Canadian, bought first property in US
This is a few month late but I think its time I share my success story here.
Although not my first rental property I have purchased( I have purchased 2 other in BC Canada before), but it is the first property that I purchased as a way to become a true real estate investor.
I bought my property in Spokane WA. Reasons for locations are it is somewhat driving distance from me 6 hours drive each way. prices are cheap compared to most other places close by, larger city that seems to be moving in the right direction, and rent that meets 1.5% or better.
property I purchased is a 1 story with a very livable unfinished basement. The house needs a lot of work and by a lot I mean complete kitchen and bathroom remodel, wiring new plugs and installing new light fixtures in all of upstairs. new furnace, new windows. I am glad in some way this property needs this much work because I think this makes it easier for the next properties, I have learned what things to look for next time looking at purchasing other properties and how much they would cost to repair. I have also met the contractors that I would like to work with again.
I didn't use one contractor to take care of everything, windows, heating, electrical is all different people as I got better prices this way. Remodel I have left for one person as this gave me the best price and I didn't have to worry about making appointments with different contractors and baby sitting them.
purchased property with LOC and repairs are also with my LOC (thanks to Canadian dollar sucking might have to use some of my own cash also).
The idea with this property is rent it for a year or so then sell it, I wanted to flip it right away but WA laws are stopping me and since I am not a US citizen I doubt I could get a contractor license(something I am looking in to still). The positive is I will get to know the rental market this way, I might also look at rent to own option also.
Things I did right: I was only couple of thousands off on my repair cost, Patient before buying, so far got the right contractors, have great credit and never have any debt but my mortgages, and remembering to download bigger pockets podcast's on my cell to listen on the drive. decent location with good neighbors( I went and knocked on each of their doors introducing myself and letting them know I am the new owner and giving my contact info in-case they need to talk to me).
Things I didn't think about or did wrong: exchange rate, needing additional month to finish the property(kind of my fault with not making quicker decision and holiday season coming up), not looking at small expenses like cellphone bills and roaming charges, small details when looking at the property (ex. the siding had some corners missing now good luck finding the right color). sending checks with mail can be expensive (3 to 5 days priority mail is about $30 from Canada to US).
For other Canadians out there, buying the property was really easy, everything was done with mail and email. Docusign took care of everything for purchasing the property everything else priority mail took care of. I never had to go to Spokane for purchasing or insurance. There are banks that will give you a mortgage with alright rates 4% or so but on only 65% of the purchase price. The bank I talked to had a minimum of fifty thousand dollar mortgage.
purchase price $39.000
repairs: $35,000
rent: $900 to $950
sale price: $115,000